


Having Your Cake

by enigmaticblue



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 13:19:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1689773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/pseuds/enigmaticblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anya tries her hand at baking for Giles’ birthday, with rather interesting results. (Assumes that she went to Giles after the wedding-that-wasn’t rather than D’Hoffryn. Just go with it.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Having Your Cake

Anya frowned down at the cake batter. She’d asked Giles what he wanted for his birthday, but he’d told her that he had everything he wanted. That didn’t help at all; she knew that you gave people gifts on their birthday, whether they wanted something or not.

 

It was how it was done. Besides, she _wanted_ to get him something, to show her appreciation for everything. He’d been there for her during a very difficult time.

 

So, she’d decided to throw a party, and she’d called on one of her friends to cast a harmony spell. That way, no one would fight, and he would be able to have a peaceful party.

 

Of course, there wasn’t a harmony spell in existence that would enable everybody to get along, which is why she hadn’t invited Willow and Xander.

 

But Giles’ birthday wouldn’t be complete without a cake, and she wasn’t sure this was going to work.

 

“Anya?” Buffy called as she opened the door. “I got the ice cream.”

 

“Do you know anything about cakes?” Anya demanded.

 

Buffy joined her next to the counter. “What’s wrong with it?”

 

“Nothing. I just don’t want to mess this up.”

 

“The box mixes are almost impossible to ruin,” Buffy assured her. “I promise. Just follow the directions.”

 

Anya cracked an egg into the bowl. “Did you get the decorations?”

 

“Of course.” Buffy held up a plastic sack. “Do you want me to start putting them up?”

 

She hesitated, wanting to do it herself, but knowing that there probably wasn’t enough time. “Yes. That would be nice.”

 

They worked in companionable silence, maybe because of the harmony spell, but maybe not. She and Buffy mostly got along these days, although the Slayer had been none too happy with her relationship with Giles. Dawn and Spike had been more accepting—probably because they didn’t care.

 

“Please, Spike? I promise, I’ll be careful.”

 

“Take it up with your sister,” Spike replied as he walked through the door. “She makes the rules, Nibblet.”

 

Dawn looked at Buffy. “Please, Buffy. Can I go to the school dance this weekend? I got asked today by Mike.”

 

“I don’t see why that’s a problem,” Buffy replied pleasantly.

 

“And can I stay out past my curfew?” Dawn asked. “The dance ends at midnight, and Mike said he’d drive me home.”

 

Buffy sighed. “I don’t think that missing curfew one time is going to hurt.”

 

Anya smiled smugly to herself as she poured the batter into the cake pan. Buffy and Dawn tended to argue over everything, and that impending dispute had been settled without a problem. If only the harmony spell would affect a wider area than her small apartment, or if it lasted longer than a day. Wouldn’t that be an amazing gift?

 

“Help me put these decorations up, Spike?” Buffy asked.

 

Spike didn’t even make a snide comment, which was quite an improvement. Not that Anya minded, but Giles tended to get annoyed with the vampire, and so did Buffy. Really, they should all know by now that Spike complained about these sorts of things to save face.

 

“What did you get Giles for his birthday?” Dawn asked, joining her in the kitchen.

 

Anya put the cake in the oven. “Oh, a few things.” She had no intention of revealing _all_ her secrets, especially when some of Giles’ gifts weren’t for little ears or eyes.

 

~~~~~

 

Giles knew that something was up. Anya had informed him in no uncertain terms that he was to make himself scarce for the duration of the afternoon. He’d told her not to worry about his birthday, but she’d insisted that it was worth celebrating.

 

And who was he to argue? He was still a little flabbergasted that she wanted to be with _him_. Giles wasn’t going to tell her that he didn’t enjoy thinking about getting another year older.

 

Another year with Anya was worth celebrating, however.

 

“Anya?” he called as he entered the apartment they shared. The interior was dark, and he shut the door behind him and flipped the light switch.

 

“Surprise!” Anya called, echoed by an enthusiastic Dawn and Buffy and a less enthusiastic Spike.

 

Giles feigned surprise. In truth, he’d been expecting something like this, because he knew that the girls had wanted to surprise him. Spike, he was sure, couldn’t care less. “I had no idea you were going to do something like this.”

 

“Liar,” Spike muttered, handing him a glass half-full of amber liquid.

 

Giles merely raised an eyebrow, and took a moment to kiss Anya. He sipped from his glass, and both eyebrows went up. “This isn’t from my store.”

 

Spike shrugged. “Happy birthday.”

 

“Thank you.” Giles decided that he didn’t want to know how Spike had managed to obtain such a good bottle of scotch.

 

“We have gifts, too!” Dawn piped up.

 

Anya cleared her throat, giving Spike a hard look. “We need to have cake first.”

 

Spike shrugged unapologetically. “Scotch and cake go together.”

 

“Indeed they do.” Giles could hardly believe that he was agreeing with the vampire, but there was a first time for everything.

 

The rest of the evening passed more pleasantly than he could have hoped. Buffy and Dawn didn’t bicker at all, Spike wasn’t his usual annoying self, and the chocolate cake Anya had baked was quite good. It was, in short, the best birthday he’d had in years.

 

“How was it?” Anya asked anxiously when the others had gone. “Did you have a good time?”

 

“A very good time,” he replied, pressing a kiss to her lips. “There’s absolutely nothing else I could want.”

 

She pulled back, a pout forming on her lips, although there was a sparkle in her eyes. “Oh, really? Because there’s still more chocolate frosting, if you’re not too tired.”

 

His smile was reminiscent of Ripper’s, although she would have had no way of knowing that. “I don’t think I’ll ever be too tired for you.”

 

Later—much later—Giles thought perhaps that his birthday had been one of those rare occasions when you could have your cake and eat it, too.


End file.
